Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Shubha Ghosh spoke with Bloomberg Law about a possible appeal by Elon Musk following the jury verdict in the Elon Musk v. Sam Altman trial. The jury found that the statute of limitations had expired before Musk filed the suit and did not address the merits of Musk’s claims.
“We haven’t reached those substantive issues yet,” said Ghosh. “And it’s not quite clear whether we ever will get to see them.”
Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Shubha Ghosh discussed with the Wall Street Journal the possible outcome of an appeal by Elon Musk in the lawsuit against OpenAI and co-founder Sam Altman.
At the trial, the jury sided with OpenAI, agreeing that the statute of limitations had passed and Musk knew about the actions that OpenAI and Altman had taken to create a for-profit entity well before he filed this lawsuit in 2024.
“It’s a very rare circumstance that those can be appealed because it’s usually a clear rule,” he said. “What the jury found is that he took too long.”
Joins a network of 37 leaders serving our nation’s veterans
Seth M. Owens, attorney at the College of Law’s Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic, has been named to participate in the 2026 Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program. Stand-To targets dynamic leaders, including civilians, veterans, and active military members, from various sectors nationwide who are dedicated to supporting our nation’s veterans and their families.
The 37 scholars hail from across the country and will gather at the George W. Bush Presidential Center next month for the opening session. Over the course of the five modules, scholars will hear from a variety of distinguished professionals, educators, and experts in veteran transition and leadership development, including Major General Jeannie M. Leavitt; and Alex Gorsky, U.S. Army veteran, April and Jay Graham Fellow at the George W. Bush Institute, and former Chairman and CEO of Johnson and Johnson; among others.
Seth M. Owens, J.D., D.P.T., is an attorney and advocacy fellow with the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic at the Syracuse University College of Law, where he focuses on veterans health and disability law, federal appellate litigation, and legal services for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness. A former physical therapist and healthcare manager, Owens brings a multidisciplinary approach to veterans advocacy that integrates legal, medical, and policy perspectives. His scholarship centers on veterans’ access to benefits and the systemic barriers faced by former service members with less-than-honorable discharges, including published and forthcoming work in the Syracuse Law Review. Owens has also co-authored amicus briefs before the United States Supreme Court and regularly contributes to national conversations on veterans law, discharge characterization, and access to care.
“I am so incredibly honored to be selected for this cohort of the Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program, and have the opportunity to bring back lessons learned to the College of Law and the community of veterans we serve,” Owens says.
Each participant brings a personal leadership project to the program, enabling them to immediately apply what they learn to making a positive impact on veterans and military families across the United States.
During the five-month program, Seth will develop his initiative focused on correlating improvement in well-being and housing status for homeless veterans with the delivery of legal services focused on accessing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits and services. He hopes to show that the delivery of these legal services can be a primary intervention to combat homelessness in the veteran population—an intervention that could be adopted on a much larger scale by the VA.
Scholars were carefully chosen following a comprehensive application and review process. They become part of a dynamic network comprising over 250 alumni from seven earlier classes, focused on enhancing veteran outcomes across a range of issues. Many alumni occupy leadership positions in business, community initiatives, nonprofits that aid veterans, government, and academia; numerous members are also active or reserve military personnel.
The program is one of many ways the Bush Institute supports our country’s veterans and military families and builds on the organization’s extensive policy work in veteran transition.
To learn more about the Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program, please visit bushcenter.org/veteranleadership.
About the George W. Bush Institute
The George W. Bush Institute is a solution-oriented nonpartisan policy organization focused on ensuring opportunity for all, strengthening democracy, and advancing free societies. Housed within the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the Bush Institute is rooted in compassionate conservative values and committed to creating positive, meaningful, and lasting change at home and abroad. We utilize our unique platform and convening power to advance solutions to national and global issues of the day. Learn more at www.bushcenter.org.
Professor of Law Paula Johnson contributed the opinion article “Supreme Court’s voting rights decision silences Black voters” to Syracuse.com in response to the recent Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais.
In the article, Johnson provides a historical review of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, its impact on the civil rights of Black voters, and how the ruling will affect minority voting going forward.
She concludes that, “while it is not fully extinguished, this democratic promise is now dimming under the Supreme Court’s latest ruling on the VRA. This is one of the most consequential decisions by the modern Supreme Court, for as Ashley Shelton, founder and CEO of the Power Coalition, a Louisiana statewide civic engagement organization, asks, ‘What is citizenship without representation?’ This is a question, a calling and a challenge, not just for Black voters, but for everyone who genuinely believes in the right of fair representation in a democratic society. We must vote like our democracy depends on it, because it does.”
Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Shubha Ghosh spoke with the Associated Press about the trial where Elon Musk is seeking the removal of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Ghosh said he has doubts about Altman staying on as CEO of OpenAI in the long run. “A lot of this might depend upon a testimony,” he said. “And I don’t know what he’s going to say or how he’s gonna say it. But even like the best case, movie theater type performance, with all the music playing and the angels descending or whatnot, I don’t see him coming off as a fairly strong leader, especially [since] this case has gone this far.”
Professor of Law Emeritus William C. Banks spoke with the Wall Street Journal about the White House ballroom construction and national security issues surrounding the project. One issue is the amount of information being disclosed about the construction in ongoing litigation.
Banks said one open question was whether the administration was divulging actual operational plans or instead searching for a winning legal justification for the construction.
“If it’s accurate, I think it borders on irresponsible,” he said.
Banks was the Founding Director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT), now the Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law (SPL). Under Banks’ leadership, INSCT/SPL grew from its inception in 2003 to become a recognized leader in interdisciplinary research and education on national and international security and terrorism.
Dean Terence Lau L’98 spoke with Axios on the repayment of tariffs to businesses and the potential risks for companies pursuing refunds.
“You don’t want to hold a press conference when you do it, but I think as a company you have to file,” says Lau. “If you are owed billions of dollars from the federal government and you don’t get it back, you’re going to have a derivative shareholder lawsuit on your hands so fast it’ll make your head spin.”
The full article may be behind a paywall.
Professor Gregory Germain spoke with Investopedia on the possibility of consumers receiving tariff refunds.
“In most cases, the consumers are bearing the burden of the tariffs through higher prices, but they can’t specifically identify that their money went to pay a particular tariff,” said Germain.
He continues, “There may be some businesses that—just like paying a sales tax or something—itemized it [the tariffs] on the receipt saying, ‘We’re charging $15 for a tariff.’ Those customers … would have a pretty good argument.”
College of Law Dean Terence Lau L’98 spoke with NPR News on the possibility of tariff refunds to consumers. The story notes that companies can try to pass refunds along to consumers, but it’s nearly impossible to determine how much individual consumers paid.
“How much of that price increase do you attribute to tariffs? Companies can’t even answer that question,” said Lau, an expert on tariffs.
The news segment can be found at 1:10 on the 4-21-26 4 a.m. News Now podcast.
Lau began his career in the Office of the General Counsel at Ford Motor Company in the International Trade and Transactions practice group. His practice focused on U.S. law for foreign affiliates and subsidiaries, among other topics. Later, he served as Ford’s director for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Government Affairs.
Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Shubha Ghosh spoke with the Associated Press about possible remedies for concertgoers after the jury verdict in the Live Nation antitrust trial.
“There might be a few extra dollars that will come trickle down at consumers who bought tickets through Live Nation,” said Ghosh, a law professor who focuses on technology and antitrust law. “Whether ticket prices will go down in the long run, I think it largely depends.”
